Asynchronous Persistent Group Bonus Game

ABSTRACT

An asynchronous persistent group bonus game system, method and apparatus may have a plurality of gaming machines including a first processor and a bonus server having a second processor. The first processor may be configured to: determine when a bonus game session event is triggered, transmit a bonus game session request to the second processor, and receive an end session notification from the second processor. The second processor may be configured to execute and maintain the always-on asynchronous persistent group bonus game, receive a bonus game session request from at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, instantiate a bonus game session inside the continuous asynchronous persistent group bonus game for the at least one gaming machine, determine when an end session trigger has been triggered for the bonus game session, and transmit an end session notification to the at least one gaming machine if it is determined that the end session condition has been triggered.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of gaming systems,and more particularly to asynchronous persistent group bonus gamingsystems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gaming machines generally require the player to place or make a wager toactivate the primary game of chance. In many of these gaming machines,the award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbolcombination and on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager,the higher the award). Generally, symbols or symbol combinations whichare less likely to occur usually provide higher awards and/or allow theplayer to play a bonus game.

The bonus games usually provide an additional award to the player. Thebonus games usually do not require an additional wager by the player tobe activated and may generally be activated by a triggering symbol orcombination played in the primary game of chance. When a bonus game istriggered, the gaming machine generally indicates this to the playerthrough one or more visual and/or audio output devices, such as reels,lights, speakers, video screens, and the like.

In the recent years, casino games where multiple players sharing a bonusgame were also introduced. Typically, five to eight slot machinessurround a shared bonus screen. When the bonus game is triggered, andone or more players may optionally participate in the bonus game.However, the bonus game is short in duration (typically well less thanhalf a minute), all eligible players must be there at the same time toparticipate, and the passive player(s) do not interact with eachother—or with the bonus game. Thus, these group-like bonus games aresolitary individual bonus games that are just happened to be played on acommon platform. Without interaction with the bonus game, withoutinteraction between players, with the brief nature of the group bonusgame, and with the small number of players in a group participatingsimultaneously, the group-like bonus game offers no additional benefitand improvement over the single player bonus game. In fact, given anopt-in choice to participate in the group-like bonus game, eligibleplayers normally opt-out and wait their turn so that they can play thebonus game by themselves. This defeats the purpose of the group gameenvironment.

SUMMARY

An asynchronous persistent group bonus game allows a player to join andplay an asynchronous persistent group bonus game that continues to runeven after the player exits the ongoing asynchronous persistent groupbonus game. That is, a game-within-a-game bonus environment is createdwhere multiple individual bonus game sessions from multiple gamingmachines or devices can be carried out in an asynchronous manner withinan always-on global bonus game. In one embodiment, an asynchronouspersistent group bonus game system may have a plurality of gamingmachines configured to accept a wager from a player to play a game ofchance, each of the plurality of gaming machines may have: 1) at leastone input device; 2) at least one display; 3) a first processor; and 4)a bonus server, connected to the plurality of gaming machines via anetwork, having a second processor configured to communicate with eachof the plurality of gaming machines. The first processor may be at leastconfigured to: (a) determine when a bonus game session event istriggered; (b) transmit a bonus game session request to the secondprocessor; and (c) receive an end session notification from the secondprocessor. The second processor may be at least configured to: (a)execute the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; (b) receive abonus game session request from at least one of the plurality of gamingmachines; (c) instantiate a bonus game session in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game for the at least one gaming machine; (d)determine when an end session criteria has been triggered for the bonusgame session; and (e) transmit an end session notification to the atleast one gaming machine if it is determined that the end sessioncriteria has been triggered.

In another embodiment, a method for playing an asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game on at least one of a plurality of gaming machinesconfigured to accept a wager from a player to play a game of chance mayinclude executing at least one asynchronous persistent group bonus gameon a bonus game server, the bonus game server configured to communicatewith the plurality of gaming machines, determining whether a bonus gamesession request has been received from at least one of the plurality ofgaming machines, instantiating and inserting a bonus game session intothe asynchronous persistent group bonus game for the at least one gamingmachine, determining whether an end session trigger has been triggered,and ending the bonus game session when it is determined that the endsession criteria has been triggered, wherein the bonus game session endsbefore termination of the at least one asynchronous persistent groupbonus game.

In another embodiment, a method for playing an asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game on at least one of a plurality of gaming machinesconfigured to accept a wager from a player to play a game of chance maycomprise initiating a primary game of chance on the at least one gamingmachine, determining whether a bonus event is triggered by the primarygame of chance, transmitting a bonus game session request to a bonusserver to play a bonus game session within an asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game, displaying the bonus game session instantiated in anasynchronous persistent group bonus game on a display if it isdetermined that the bonus event is triggered, and receiving an endsession notification to notify the player that the bonus game sessionhad ended, wherein the bonus game session ends prior to the terminationof the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodimentsand, together with the description of example embodiments, serve toexplain the principles and implementations.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example gaming machine.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of an asynchronous bonus gamingsystem.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment of theasynchronous bonus gaming system.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate flow diagrams of example methods for playing anasynchronous persistent group bonus game.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method forending the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate display presentations of an example asynchronouspersistent group bonus game.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example virtual bonus game store.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example display of a gaming machine displayingasynchronous persistent group bonus game data.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary bonus game condition set.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments are described herein in the context of an asynchronouspersistent group bonus game. The following detailed description isillustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Otherembodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled personshaving the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made indetail to implementations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings andthe following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of theimplementations described herein are shown and described. It will, ofcourse, be appreciated that in the development of any such actualimplementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be madein order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliancewith application- and business-related constraints, and that thesespecific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from onedeveloper to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such adevelopment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those ofordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

An asynchronous persistent group bonus game allows a player to join andplay an asynchronous persistent group bonus game that continues to runeven after the player exits the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame. Asynchronous gaming allows a player to enter and play theasynchronous persistent group bonus game without having to wait forother players to enter or exit the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame. For example, Player A may enter and play a bonus game session inthe asynchronous persistent group bonus game. While Player A is playinghis asynchronous persistent group bonus game session, Player B mayasynchronously enter and play her bonus game session in the sameasynchronous persistent group bonus game. Since the asynchronous bonusgame is persistent, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game mayoperate and endure even after a player's bonus game session terminates.Thus, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may allow players tostart and stop individual bonus game sessions without dependency onother player's bonus game sessions. Additionally, many players canconcurrently play in the same global game environment, whether or notthey belong to the same team or even striving for the same game goalsand objectives.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example gaming machine. Machine 102 includes amain cabinet 104, which generally surrounds the machine interior (notshown) and is viewable by players. The main cabinet includes a main door108 on the front of the machine, which opens to provide access to theinterior of the machine. Attached to the main door are user-inputswitches or buttons 132, a coin acceptor 128, and a bill validator 130,a coin tray 138, and a belly glass 140. Viewable through the main dooris a video display monitor 134 and an information panel 136. The displaymonitor 134 will typically be a cathode ray tube, high resolutionflat-panel LCD, or other conventional electronically controlled videomonitor. The information panel 136 may be a back-lit, silk screenedglass panel with lettering to indicate general game informationincluding, for example, a game denomination (e.g. $0.25 or $1). The billvalidator 130, user-input buttons 132, video display monitor 134, andinformation panel 136 are devices used to play a game on the gamingmachine 102. The devices are controlled by circuitry (e.g. a mastergaming controller) housed inside the main cabinet 104 of the machine102.

Many different types of games, including mechanical slot games, videoslot games, video poker, video black jack, video pachinko and lottery,may be provided with gaming machines of this invention. In particular,the gaming machine 102 may be operable to provide a play of manydifferent instances of games of chance. The instances may bedifferentiated according to themes, sounds, graphics, type of game(e.g., slot game vs. card game), denomination, number of pay lines,maximum jackpot, progressive or non-progressive, bonus games, etc. Thegaming machine 102 may be operable to allow a player to select a game ofchance to play from a plurality of instances available on the gamingmachine. For example, the gaming machine may provide a menu with a listof the instances of games that are available for play on the gamingmachine and a player may be able to select from the list a firstinstance of a game of chance that he wishes to play.

The various instances of games available for play on the gaming machine102 may be stored as game software on a mass storage device in thegaming machine 102 or may be generated on a remote gaming device (notshown) but then displayed on the gaming machine 102. The gaming machine102 may execute game software, such as but not limited to videostreaming software that allows the game to be displayed on the gamingmachine 102. When an instance is stored on the gaming machine 102, itmay be loaded from the mass storage device into a random access memory(RAM) for execution. In some cases, after a selection of an instance,the game software that allows the selected instance to be generated maybe downloaded from a remote gaming device, such as another gamingmachine.

The gaming machine 102 includes a top box 106, which sits on top of themain cabinet 104. The top box 106 houses a number of devices, which maybe used to add features to a game being played on the gaming machine102, including speakers 110, 112, 114, a ticket printer 118 which printsbar-coded tickets 120, a key pad 122 for entering player trackinginformation, a fluorescent display 116 for displaying player trackinginformation, a card reader 124 for swiping a magnetic striped cardcontaining player tracking information, and a video display screen 142.The ticket printer 118 may be used to print tickets 120 for a cashlessticketing system. Further, the top box 106 may have a bonus screen 144which may display a persistent group bonus game. The bonus screen 144may also display other media when the bonus game is not in session forthe player. For instance, the bonus screen 144 may displayadvertisements, personalized messages, and/or promotional media clips.

Understand that gaming machine 102 is but one example from a wide rangeof gaming machine designs on which the present invention may beimplemented. For example, not all suitable gaming machines have topboxes or player tracking features. As another example, a game may begenerated on a host computer and may be displayed on a remote terminalor a remote gaming device. The remote gaming device may be connected tothe host computer via a network of some type such as a local areanetwork, a wide area network, an intranet or the Internet. The remotegaming device may be a portable gaming device such as but not limited toa cell phone, a personal digital assistant, or a wireless game player.Images rendered from three dimensional (3-D) gaming environments may bedisplayed on portable gaming devices that are used to play a game ofchance. Further, a gaming machine or server may include gaming logic forcommanding a remote gaming device to render an image from a virtualcamera in a 3-D gaming environment stored on the remote gaming deviceand to display the rendered image on a display located on the remotegaming device. Thus, those of skill in the art will understand that thepresent invention, as described below, can be deployed on most anygaming machine now available or hereafter developed.

Returning to the example of FIG. 1, when a player wishes to play thegaming machine 102, he or she inserts cash through the coin acceptor 128or bill validator 130. Additionally, the bill validator 130 may accept aprinted ticket voucher as an indicia of credit when a cashless ticketingsystem is used. At the start of the game, the player may enter playingtracking information using the card reader 124, the keypad 122, and theflorescent display 116. Further, other game preferences of the playerplaying the game may be read from a card inserted into the card reader124. During the game, the player views game information using the videodisplay 134. Other game and prize information may also be displayed inthe video display screen 144 located in the top box 106.

During the course of a game, a player may be required to make a numberof decisions, which affect the outcome of the game. For example, aplayer may vary his or her wager on a particular game, select a prizefor a particular game selected from a prize server, or make gamedecisions that affect the outcome of a particular game. The player maymake these choices using the user-input buttons 132, the video displayscreen 134 or using some other device which enables a player to inputinformation into the gaming machine. In some embodiments, the player maybe able to access various game services such as concierge services andentertainment content services using the video display screen 134 andone or more input/output devices.

During certain game events, the gaming machine 102 may display visualand auditory effects that can be perceived by the player. These effectsadd to the excitement of a game, which makes a player more likely tocontinue playing. Auditory effects include various sounds that areprojected by the speakers 110, 112, 114. Visual effects include flashinglights, strobing lights or other patterns displayed from lights on thegaming machine 102 or from lights behind the belly glass 140. After theplayer has completed a game, the player may receive coins or game tokensfrom the coin tray 138 or the ticket 120 from the printer 118, which maybe used for further games or to redeem a prize. Further, the player mayalso receive a ticket 120 for food, promotional merchandise, or gamesfrom the printer 118.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of an asynchronous persistent groupbonus gaming system. The asynchronous bonus gaming system 150 mayinclude a plurality of gaming machines 152 a, 152 b, 152 n (where n isan integer). Each of the plurality of gaming machines 152 a-n may beconfigured to communicate with a central display 158 via network 154. Inone embodiment, the gaming machines 152 a-n may be configured tocommunicate with the central display 158 via a wide-area network. Thecentral display 158 may be configured to display a bonus gamingenvironment 156 of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. Thebonus game environment 156 may include information 160 pertinent to theasynchronous persistent group bonus game, such as team score, individualscore, current players playing the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame, top players, top teams, progressive jackpot awards, and the like.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment of theasynchronous persistent group bonus gaming system. The asynchronouspersistent group bonus game system 200 may include at least one globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 configured to communicatewith a plurality of gaming machines 204 a, 204 b, and 204 n via a widearea network (WAN) such as the Internet 250 and local network 206. Theadvantage of using the Internet is that many casino's from distantlocations can be linked together in one common game. This allowsthousands of players to be active in the game at any given time,creating a live and exciting gaming environment. Alternatively, asimpler architecture is not to connect via a WAN (some gamingjurisdictions may not allow a WAN connection) so that the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 is connected directly tolocal network 206. The global asynchronous persistent group bonus server202 may also be configured to communicate with a game enhancement server208 and a local play tracking server 210 via network 206. The network206 may be a client-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a wired orwireless network, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN),or any other type of network.

The gaming machines 204 a-n may be physically located in a singlelocation, such as a casino, or may be spread out over multiplelocations, such as multiple airports, grocery stores, casinos, differentstates or countries, or any other locations. Thus, the network 206 mayinclude local as well as wide area network links as describedpreviously.

In an implementation particularly suited for a multi-propertyarchitecture, the global asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202and the game enhancement server 208 maybe located in a remote location(e.g., such as at the casino operator's corporate headquarter) andconnected to the multiple local game tracking servers 210 at the localcasino's (one local server 210 per casino, for instance) via theInternet or a private wide-area network. Of course, if the systemdeployment is for a small group of gaming machines (e.g., in onecarousel or bank of gaming machines) in one local casino, all thefunctions performed by the game enhancement server 208, the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202, and the local playtracking server 210 maybe consolidated to one local carousel server. Alocal area network is all that is required in this case.

Gaming machines 204 a-n may have at least one input/output device 212a-n, at least one display 214 a-n, a memory 216 a-n and at least oneprocessor 218 a-n. The gaming machines 204 a-n may be configured toaccept a wager from the player to play a game of chance. The at leastone input/output device 212 may be user-input switches, buttons,touch-screen display, speakers, lights or any other known input/outputdevice as described above with reference to FIG. 1. A player may use theinput/output device to make decisions or to play the game of chance onthe gaming machine 204 a-n. For example, a player may vary his or herwager on a particular game, select a prize for a particular gameselected from a prize server, or make game decisions that affect theoutcome of a particular game. In other embodiments, the player may beable to access various game services such as concierge services andentertainment content services using the display device 214 a-n and oneor more input/output devices 212 a-n.

The at least one display 214 a-n may be configured to communicate withthe processor 218 a-n to display gaming images for the primary game ofchance or the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. The display 214a-n may be any device used for displaying or presenting images to theplayer. The display 214 a-n may be any size or shape and may be locatedanywhere on the gaming machine 204 a-n.

The at least one memory 216 a-n may be any storage device used to storedata or programs, sequences of instructions, pay tables, eventprobabilities, and the like. The memory 216 a-n may be any type ofmemory such as non-volatile memory, non-volatile random access memory(NV-RAM), ferromagnetic hard disk drive, optical disk drive, magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), flash memory, or any other typeof data storage solution that will not lose stored data or data loadedinto memory in the event of a power loss or machine malfunction.

The processor 218 a-n may be configured to communicate with the display214 a-n, memory 216 a-n, input/output device 212 a-n, or any otherdevice of the gaming machine 204 a-n. The at least one processor 218 a-nmay be configured to determine when a bonus event is triggered, transmita bonus game session request to a processor 220 on the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 via network 206, andreceive an end session notification from the processor 220 on the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202.

Bonus events may be triggered when specific outcomes are played on theprimary game of chance. For example, a bonus event may be triggered whena bonus symbol is played on the primary game of chance. In anotherexample, the bonus event may be triggered when a combination of symbolsare played on the primary game of chance. In yet another example, thebonus event may be triggered when the denomination of the wager meets apredetermined threshold and the outcome of the primary game is either abonus symbol or a combination of symbols. For example, a bonustriggering event may occur when a player bets the maximum amount ofcredits and at least one bonus symbol is played on the primary game ofchance.

When the bonus triggering event occurs, a bonus game session request maybe transmitted from processor 218 a-n to the global asynchronouspersistent group bonus server 202 via network 206. The bonus gamesession request informs the bonus server that a bonus triggering eventoccurred on the gaming machine 204 a-n and requests that the player playa bonus game session in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

The global asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 may have aprocessor 220 and memory 222. The memory 222 may be any storage deviceas discussed above that may be configured to at least store data,programs, achievements awarded, bonus game limitations, pay tables, andany other gaming information. The global asynchronous persistent groupbonus server 202 may also store the game states of the bonus session andfor the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. The state of theasynchronous persistent group bonus game may affect how the bonussession is instantiated in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

The processor 220 may be configured to execute an asynchronouspersistent group bonus game, receive a bonus game session request fromat least one of the plurality of gaming machines 204 a-n, instantiate aplayer's bonus game session into the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame for at least one of the gaming machines 204 a-n, determine whetheran end session trigger has been triggered for the bonus game session,and transmit an end session notification to the gaming machine 204 a-nif it is determined that the end session trigger has been triggered.

When the global asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 receivesa bonus game session request for at least one of the gaming machines 204a-n, the bonus game session may be instantiated into the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game. When the bonus game session isinstantiated, the bonus game session is created within the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game and the player plays a real instance orparticular realization of the bonus game session. In other words, thebonus game session is configured to allow the player to play the bonusgame session within the always-on asynchronous persistent group bonusgame. For example, particular assets of the bonus game session may beconfigured into the asynchronous persistent group bonus game,identifying data for the particular bonus game session, starting thebonus game session in a certain location in the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game environment, or any other configuration data for thebonus game session. Instantiation of the bonus game session may alsoinclude creating an avatar for the player to play the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game, periodically or continually updating theplayer's game state data, sending the player's game state data to theglobal asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202, or any other actsrequired to play the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

In one implementation, the graphical global gaming environment ispresented to the player at the local display 134. All the updates fromvarious gaming devices are processed, rendered, and streamed to thegaming device's display screen from the global gaming bonus server. Inanother implementation, high-level commands are given to the localgaming devices. The local gaming device processes, renders, and displaysthe resultant graphics. In all cases, the player's interaction andcontrol (e.g., via the touchscreen) are captured and routed to theproper processor (the remote global gaming bonus server, or the localgaming device) to process, render, and display the resultant graphics onthe player's display.

A bonus game session for each player may be played asynchronously fromother players who may or may not belong to the same group. Typically, aplayer plays the primary game and earn the right to enter the always-onglobal bonus group game. Other players maybe playing, exiting, orentering as well. When he finishes his play session, he is returned tohis primary game, while the global bonus group game continues to persistto entertain other players who are playing, exiting, or entering. Eachof the plurality of gaming machines 204 a-n may communicate via network206 with the global asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202regardless of previous, current and/or subsequent communications betweenthe global asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 and the othergaming machines 204 a-n. For example, a bonus game session may beinstantiated in an asynchronous persistent group bonus game for a playerplaying gaming machine 204 a. While gaming machine 204 a is playing abonus game session in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game,another bonus game session may be instantiated in the same asynchronouspersistent group bonus game for a player playing gaming machine 204 b.When the bonus game session ends for gaming machine 204 a, theasynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue to allow theplayer playing the bonus game session on gaming machine 204 b to finishhis bonus game session.

When a bonus game session ending event occurs for a bonus game session,an end session notification may be transmitted from the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 to the respective gamingmachine 204 a-n via network 206. The end session notification may bedisplayed on the central display or on any display on the gaming machine204 a-n. The end session notification may be any transmitted messagethat communicates to the player that the bonus game session hasterminated. For example, the end session notification may be displayedas “Your bonus game session is complete.” The bonus game session may endprior to termination of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

A bonus game session ending event may be triggered when certain bonusgame session events occur. For example, a bonus game session endingevent may be the end of a pre-defined period of time or a pre-definedcritical threshold. For example, the pre-defined critical threshold maybe once the player achieves 1,000 points playing the bonus game session.In another example, the pre-defined critical threshold may be when ateam goal of 1,000 points is achieved. In still another example, thebonus game session ending event may occur once the player has played thebonus game session for two minutes.

In one embodiment, a player may create a bonus game session conditionset for use when playing the bonus game session. A list of bonusconditions may be displayed on display 214 a-n and the player may usethe input/output device 212 a-n to select the desired bonus condition.The bonus game session condition set may be any user-selected conditionsthat can affect the dynamics of the bonus game session. For example, abonus condition may be a list of assets or tools the player may use whenplaying the bonus game session. In another example, the bonus conditionmay be a specific team the player would like to join when playing thebonus game session. In still another example, the bonus condition may beselecting a specific location, or proximity to other teammates, etc.,inside the asynchronous persistent group bonus game that the playerwould like to be positioned to play the bonus game session.

Once the bonus game session condition set is created, it may betransmitted to the global asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202via network 206. The bonus conditions 234 may be stored in the bonusserver database 224 and the global asynchronous persistent group bonusserver 202 may use the bonus game session condition set to configure thebonus session for the player.

In one embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may beplayed by multiple players to achieve a team goal and/or obtain awinning goal of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. Teams canalso play against or with other teams in a competitive manner, in acooperative manner, or a team can simply play its own game without otherteams. The nature of the team play is configured in a bonus game sessioncondition as described previously. Preferably, the team playconfiguration is done, either by the players or a casino operator or thebonus server, prior to any team member entering the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game. However, teams and team configuration canalso be set up spontaneously inside the global bonus game environment.In another embodiment, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game maybe played by a team of only one player.

The bonus game session data 232 for the team or individual bonus gamesession may be stored in the global asynchronous persistent group bonusserver database 224. For example, an individual achievement or goal maybe to obtain a certain amount of credits within a pre-determined amountof time. In another example, a team goal or achievement may be to obtaina certain amount of credits before another team achieves the same amountof credits. In still another example, the team goal or achievement maybe to obtain the highest number of credits in a predetermined period oftime. Beside these configuration data, the bonus game session data mayalso include other data related to the global asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game such as team interim progress data, individual playerprogress data, interim scores, game history, credits received,intermediate prizes, jackpots awards, global game graphics,environmental parameters (trees, mountains, ponds, characters, story,etc.), and the likes. Thus, the bonus server database 224 is the centraldata repository for all data for all teams and players.

When the bonus game session ends for a player, an interim bonus awardnotification may be transmitted from the global asynchronous persistentgroup bonus server 202 to the respective gaming machine 204 a-n vianetwork 206. The interim bonus award notification may includeinformation such as whether the player accumulated any bonus credits andprizes from playing the bonus session, as well as other progress made.The bonus award notification may also include information as to whetherthe player contributed credits to the overall team goal. For example, ifthe player was able to achieve all or a portion of the goals associatedwith the bonus session game, the player may be awarded partial or fullcredits for the bonus session. Additionally, partial or full credit maybe awarded for contributing to an overall team goal.

In some embodiments, the credits awarded may be based on the totalnumber of credits or points obtained during the bonus game session. Forexample, the player may be awarded 1 credit for every 5 points obtainedplaying the bonus game session. In another example, the player may beawarded 1 credit for every 1 point obtained playing the bonus gamesession. In still another embodiment, the player may be awarded a setnumber of credits for reaching a certain level or achievement. Forexample, the player may be awarded 10 credits if he obtains 100 pointsplaying the bonus game session. The award credits may be redeemable forcash, credits to play other games of chance, purchase additional bonusgame assets to use when playing the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame, and/or other non-monetary goods or services, such as a buffet orshow tickets.

A local game play tracking server 210 may be configured to communicatewith each of the plurality of gaming machines 204 a-n and the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 via network 206. Thelocal play tracking server 210 functions as a local asynchronouspersistent group bonus game server. Having a local server improvesresponse time for the local game machines. Also, the local server cantake over the job of serving and coordinating the global bonus game evenif the network connection with the central server is lost. In this case,the local data and events generated by the local gaming machines issimply buffered in the local server's memory until the networkconnection is restored.

Since the local play tracking server mirrors some of the core functionsof the global asynchronous persistent group bonus game server (e.g.,such as displaying the global game graphics and coordinate activities ofplayers), it contains an abbreviated copy of the global game environmentdata as well as a copy of all player activities and events occurred inthe local casino. For example, it may contain only data for localplayers in the last several days instead of the comprehensive data forthousands of players across the country for the last 3 months.

The local game tracking server 210 may have a processor 226 and a memory228. If the player previously played the asynchronous persistent groupbonus game, the player's previous bonus game session data 236 may besaved on the local game tracking server 210. Thus, the player's bonusgame session data 236 may be obtained from the global asynchronouspersistent group bonus server 202 for the player to use to play thebonus game session. An example of saving the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game is discussed in co-pending application Ser. No.12/581,115 entitled “Preserving Game State Data For AsynchronousPersistent Group Bonus Games,” filed Oct. 19, 2009, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes

When a gaming machine 204 a-n is granted a bonus game session request,the local game tracking server 210 may locate the player's account 238and previous bonus session game data 236. The player account 238 may beidentified by any known means such as via the player tracking ID card,player log-in identification, the barcode on a paper voucher, and thelike. When the bonus game session ends, the player's bonus game sessiondata 232 may be updated and stored in the local game tracking database230.

Due to the continuous and persistent nature, the global asynchronousbonus group game could continue and be played for weeks or months. Therisk of being static and stale may be possible. Thus, the game may beoptionally refreshed with periodic updates of additional or new featuresand enhancements from the game enhancement server 208. The enhancementsand features can be game-related (e.g., prizes, points, jackpots, betterpaytables, pay multipliers for the primary games, wild symbols, and thelike), or non-game related (e.g., scenery, background music, avatars,food and drink services, and the like). Depending on the rules andregulations of each gaming jurisdiction (or even of the casino operator)that the game device is operating in, one or both of these types ofenhancements and features can be offered. In one embodiment, the updatesof additional or new features and enhancements may be based upon thepromotions, the time, or tournaments offered at the casino for thatmonth. For example, if the buffet was offering atwo-for-the-price-of-one meal deal on Valentines Day, the marketingadvertisement for the offer can be sent from the enhancement server 208to be displayed on the global asynchronous bonus group game. In anotherexample, the marketing advertisement may be displayed during apredefined period of time, such as between 3 pm to 5 pm. In anotherexample, the marketing advertisement may be displayed for one week.

In another embodiment, the additional or new features and enhancementsmay be based upon the month itself. For example, if the globalasynchronous bonus group game is being played in December, theenhancement server 208 may refresh the global asynchronous bonus groupgame such that the fisherman (see, Example 1) may be fishing on the pondwhile snow is falling. In another example, if the global asynchronousbonus group game is being played in October, the enhancement server 208may refresh the global asynchronous bonus group game such that eachavatar may be displayed wearing a Halloween costume, Halloweencharacters may be displayed, and Halloween music may be played in theglobal asynchronous bonus group game.

In one embodiment, updates to the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame may be compiled according to local requirements, configured, andsaved in game enhancement server 208. The game enhancement server 208may send updates or modifications to the global asynchronous persistentgroup bonus server 202 via network 206, or if connected in a WANarchitecture, via the Internet 250 and network 206. For example, a newasynchronous persistent group bonus game level may be transmitted to theglobal asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202. In anotherexample, additional contests, prizes and jackpots from a third-partysponsor maybe added, during the promotional period, to the globalasynchronous persistent group bonus server 202. In yet another example,new entertainment features such as music, video clips, sceneries, andthe like, are added to keep the global game environment alive andexciting. Updates and/or changes to the asynchronous persistent groupbonus game may be stored and executed on the global asynchronouspersistent group bonus server 202.

A bonus termination event may occur to terminate the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game. The global asynchronous persistent groupbonus server 202 may detect when a bonus termination event occurs. Inone embodiment, the bonus termination event may occur upon expiration ofa predetermined period of time. In another example, the bonustermination event may occur once a team achieves a predetermined scoreor point amount. In still another embodiment, the bonus terminationevent may occur upon the occurrence of a certain event on theasynchronous persistent group bonus game. For example, if a playerlocates a bonus termination device while playing the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game, the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame may terminate.

Once the asynchronous persistent group bonus game ends, a determinationmay be made to determine a final award for the player(s). If theasynchronous persistent group bonus game was played in teams, each ofthe players on the team will be notified of the final award. If theasynchronous persistent group bonus game was played by a one-memberteam, then the single player will be notified of the final award. Forexample, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may have a teamgoal of 1,000 points. Once the 1,000 points is reached, all the playerson the team are notified that the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame has ended and whether a final award will be distributed. The awardmay be distributed and the players may be notified via electronic mail,regular mail, text message, telephone, player account message, or anyother methods of communication such as use of the player messagingscreen on a gaming machine or at a kiosk.

Once the asynchronous persistent group bonus game is terminated, theglobal asynchronous persistent group bonus server 202 may execute a newasynchronous persistent group bonus game. In another embodiment, thesame asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continue to determinesecond and third place teams. In yet another embodiment, a newasynchronous persistent group bonus game maybe downloaded from the gameenhancement server 208 to bonus server 202 for execution.

Outcomes of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may begenerated by a random number generator (RNG) in real time as the playerplays, or can be pre-generated during the setup phase of theasynchronous persistent group bonus game, depending on what is allowedat the local game jurisdiction. The RNG can be used to generate the sizeof a prize, or the location of the prize, or both. For example, the RNGmay pre-generate a random number for a location and award size on theasynchronous persistent group bonus game. Should the player choose thatlocation to start the bonus game session, the player may be awarded thenumber of points or credits based upon the prize stored at the location.In another example, the pre-generated RNG outcomes may be used toposition certain bonus game assets throughout the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game. Should the player land upon a certainposition having the bonus game asset, the player may use the bonus gameasset to play the bonus game session. For many jurisdictions, areal-time generated RNG outcome may be required. The bonus gameimplementation can be the same except that the player's bonus gamesession outcome is generated as the player plays.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate flow diagrams of example methods for playing anasynchronous persistent group bonus game. Referring to FIG. 4A, a methodfor playing an asynchronous persistent group bonus game 300, begins withthe execution of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 302.The asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be executed via a bonusserver, gaming server, or any other server on a gaming network. Theasynchronous bonus game allows a player to enter and exit a bonus gamingsession in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game without regardto other players. In other words, a player may enter the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game and play a bonus gaming session whileanother player's bonus gaming session is in progress. For example,Player A may play a bonus game session in the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game. While Player A is playing his bonus game session,Player B may asynchronously enter and play her bonus game session in thesame asynchronous persistent group bonus game. Thus, the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game may allow players to start and stopindividual bonus game sessions without dependency on other player'sbonus game sessions. Although asynchronous game entry is the normaloperation, players can choose to enter the bonus game synchronously bysaving a bonus session for later use. For example, a player eligible toplay a 3-minute bonus session may choose to save the bonus session untilhis buddy sitting next to him receive a bonus session. Both players canthen enter the bonus game substantially at the same time so that theymay both concurrently play the bonus game at the same time.

Additionally, since the asynchronous group bonus game is persistent, thebonus game may endure even after a player's individual bonus gamesession terminates. Thus, the individual bonus game sessions may endprior to termination of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

The asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be any type of bonusgame and use various types of themes. The asynchronous persistent groupbonus game may be a fishing game, shooting game, treasure hunt, cardgame, a virtual casino, or the like. For example, if the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game is a fishing game, the player may win abonus award in the bonus game session if a fish is caught by the player.In one embodiment, the amount of the bonus award may be based on theweight of the fish caught.

If a bonus game session request was received at 304 from any of theplurality of gaming machines, a determination is made as to whether theplayer is new to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 306. Ifthe player is new, a new record in the global bonus server database 224and local game tracking server database 230 is generated to store theplayer's activities and preferences. The bonus game session request maybe sent from the gaming machine as a result of the player obtaining awinning bonus payline while playing the primary game of chance on thegaming machine. For example, the player may have obtained a certainnumber of bonus symbols while playing the primary game of chance. If nobonus game session request is received at 304, no determination isrequired.

If the player is new to the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at306, then a new bonus game session will be created for the player andthe new bonus game session will be instantiated at 310. However, if theplayer has previously played a bonus game session in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game at 306, prior bonus game session data mayberetrieved from the global asynchronous persistent group bonus gamedatabase at 308 to allow the player to use previous assets and continueplaying the asynchronous persistent group bonus game with data from thepreviously saved bonus game session. In another embodiment, the playermay select to start over and not use any assets or data from thepreviously saved bonus game session.

The bonus game session may be instantiated into the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game at 310. The bonus game session may bedisplayed on either a group display or an individual display on asecondary screen of the player's gaming machine. Instantiating the bonusgame session into the asynchronous persistent group bonus game may allowthe player to use controls from the gaming machine to control ormanipulate play in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. Aspreviously discussed above, the bonus game graphics and sounds maybestreamed from a remote bonus server, or rendered locally at the gamingmachine.

A determination is then made as to whether an end session trigger hasbeen triggered at 312. The end session trigger may be based upon time,player input, an occurrence or non-occurrence of an event, or the like.In one embodiment, the end session trigger may occur after the playerhas played in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game for apredetermined amount of time. For example, a bonus game session might beset for a predetermined bonus play time of 2 minutes and when 2 minuteselapses, an end session trigger is triggered. In another embodiment, theend session trigger may be triggered when the player reaches a goal. Forexample, the player may move throughout a game board in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game and choose a point on which to search for aprize. If the player wins a bonus prize, the end session trigger may betriggered. In another embodiment, the end session trigger may be aninput received from the player. For example, the player may push abutton to pause or end the bonus game session in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game.

If an end session trigger has not been triggered at 312, theasynchronous persistent group bonus game continues with the otherplayers. However, if the end session trigger is received at 312, thebonus game session ends at 314 and the player may be removed from theasynchronous persistent group bonus game.

FIG. 4B illustrates another embodiment of a method for playing anasynchronous persistent group bonus game. The asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game method 400 starts by executing the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game at 402. A determination is made as towhether a bonus game session request is received from any of theplurality of gaming machines at 404.

If it is determined that a bonus game session request has been receivedat 404, a bonus game condition set may be obtained and/or received fromthe gaming machine at 406. The bonus game session condition set may beany user-selected conditions that can affect or influence the dynamicsand/or outcome of the bonus game session. For example, the bonus gamesession condition set may include the player's preference of assets touse when playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. Thisallows for the appearance that the player has some control or influenceover the bonus game session. In one example, if the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game is a fishing game, the bonus game sessioncondition set may be the type of fishing rod and/or lure the playerwould like to use while playing the bonus game session in theasynchronous persistent group bonus game. The different types of rodsand/or lures may act to increase the player's chances of winning a bonusprize. In one implementation, the improved chance is done by narrowingthe number range that the RNG outcome is mapped to. For example, a rodmay have two hooks instead of one, which may double the player's chanceof winning an award. In another example, the player may select an avatarto use when playing the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

The bonus game session may be configured based upon the received bonusgame condition set at 408. The bonus game session may be configured toinclude the probability of winning a prize based on player's preferencesin the bonus game condition set. The bonus game session may then beinstantiated in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game at 410.

A determination is then made as to whether an end session trigger hasbeen triggered at 412. The end session trigger may be based upon time,player input, an occurrence or non-occurrence of an event, or the like.In one embodiment, the end session trigger may occur after the playerhas played in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game for apredetermined amount of time. For example, a bonus game session might beset for a predetermined bonus play time of 45 seconds and when 45seconds elapses an end session trigger is triggered. In anotherembodiment, the end session trigger may be triggered when the playerreaches a goal. For example, the player may move throughout a game boardin the asynchronous persistent group bonus game and choose a point onwhich to search for a prize. If the player wins a bonus prize, the endsession trigger may be triggered. In another embodiment, the end sessiontrigger may be an input received from the player. For example, theplayer may push a button to pause or end the bonus game session in theasynchronous persistent group bonus game.

If an end session trigger has not been triggered at 412, the bonus gamesession continues with existing players. However, if the end sessiontrigger is received at 412, the bonus game session ends at 414 and theplayer may be removed from the asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

FIG. 4C illustrates an embodiment of a method for notifying a player ofa bonus award. Whether the bonus award is an interim award (i.e., givenout as the player plays) or a final award (i.e., awarded to the team asa goal is achieved), the implementation is the same. If the bonussession resulted in an award at 418, a bonus notification may betransmitted to the gaming machine at 420. Whether or not an award isgoing to be awarded during the bonus game session may be determined byany known methods, such as with the use of a random number generator.The award may be any type of award such as monetary award, credits, ornon-monetary awards. In one embodiment, the non-monetary awards mayinclude bonus game assets for the player to use in future bonus gamesessions. The bonus award may be transmitted to and displayed at thegaming machine, sent to the player account, and/or sent to the playervia any known means, signal, sounds, text, or the like.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method forending the asynchronous persistent group bonus game 500. After a bonusgame session ends, a determination may be made as to whether an end ofthe global asynchronous persistent group bonus game condition has beentriggered at 502. The end bonus game trigger can be any event that endsthe asynchronous persistent group bonus game such as the ending of apredetermined time interval, a completion of a task, an occurrence ornon-occurrence of an event, or the like. In one embodiment, the endbonus game session trigger may occur after a predetermined amount oftime such as 10 days, 1 month, or 3 months. In another embodiment, theend bonus game trigger may be triggered when an overall game goal hasbeen reached. For example, in a fishing game, once an individual or teamreaches a goal of catching 1000 pounds of fish, the end condition of theglobal asynchronous persistent group bonus game may be triggered.

Once the end bonus game trigger is triggered at 502, the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game ends at 504. An asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game ending signal may be transmitted to at least one of thegaming machines to inform the player(s) that the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game has ended.

Once the asynchronous persistent group bonus game ends at 504, theasynchronous persistent group bonus game award is determined at 506. Theasynchronous persistent group bonus game award may be based upon anyfactors dependent upon the asynchronous persistent group bonus game. Forexample, if the asynchronous persistent group bonus game is a fishinggame, the asynchronous persistent group bonus game award may be basedupon the total number of pounds of fish caught by each player,calculated proportionately.

The asynchronous persistent group bonus game award may be apredetermined award or a progressive jackpot type award or a mysterybonus award. The asynchronous persistent group bonus game award may beany type of award, such as monetary, non-monetary, credits used towardplaying other games of chance, or used toward purchasing assets to playan asynchronous persistent group bonus game.

The player(s) may be notified of the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame award at 508 so that the asynchronous persistent group bonus gameaward may be distributed to the player(s) at 510. The player(s) may benotified of the asynchronous persistent group bonus game award throughdifferent methods. In one embodiment, the notification may be presentedon a display of the gaming machine and/or the central display 158 (FIG.2). In another embodiment, the player(s) may be notified via electronicmail, letter, text message, or any other means. Once notified, theasynchronous persistent group bonus game award may be distributed to theplayer(s) at 510.

Example 1

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, an exampleasynchronous persistent group bonus game will be described. Althoughdescribed with reference to a fishing-type bonus game, this is notintended to be limiting as any type of game may be developed for theasynchronous persistent group bonus game.

Referring back to FIG. 2, once a bonus game session is triggered on atleast one of the gaming machines 152 a-n, the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game may begin and the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame environment 156 may be presented on the secondary display 144(FIG. 1) and/or on the central community display 158. The asynchronouspersistent group bonus game may be a fishing game where the bonus gameenvironment may be a pond 162 and the avatars 164 a-n may be fishermen.Each player or avatar 164 a-n may have bonus assets 804 to use whenplaying the bonus game. Such assets may be displayed on a display of thegaming machine 152 a-n. Such assets may be a boat 166, hooks or lures(not shown), fishing rod 168, or any other items to assist a player orteam in catching more fish in the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame. The bonus game play assets may be acquired from a player's play inthe primary game of chance, obtained while playing the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game, or bought with credit at a virtual bonusgame store as described in Example 2.

Each avatar 164 a-n may be labeled by team and/or the player name.However, this is not intended to be limiting as each player may beidentified by any other means, such as the color of the avatar, use ofother identifiers, such as flags, and the like. Furthermore, the bonusgame environment 162 and the avatars 164 a-n can have any design or anycharacteristics as needed for a player to play the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate display presentations of an example asynchronouspersistent group bonus game. Referring to FIG. 6A, the display 612 maydisplay or present the teams 604 that are registered to play theasynchronous persistent group bonus game along with the scores 606 foreach team. The display 612 may also list or display each player 608 thatis currently playing a bonus game session in the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game, the team 604 the player 608 is playing on, as well asthe individual score 610 for the player 608. As illustrated, Player A602 is currently playing a bonus game session in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game and has accumulated 10 points.

Referring now to FIG. 6B, while Player A is playing a bonus gamesession, Player B 614 may join the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame and play for team UoIP. Player C 616 may join the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game and play for team Int. Garden. Since PlayerB 614 and Player C 616 each just started a bonus gaming session in theasynchronous persistent group bonus game, the scores 610 for each are“0”.

Referring now to FIG. 6C, once a bonus session end trigger is receivedfrom Player A 602, Player A may be removed from the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game environment. The bonus session end triggermay be any event as discussed above. However, Player B 614 and Player C616 may continue to play their bonus game session within theasynchronous persistent group bonus game. Additionally, as Player B 614and Player C 616 continue to play their bonus game session, Player D 618may join the asynchronous persistent group bonus game to play for teamInt. Garden. The asynchronous persistent group bonus game may continueuntil an end bonus game trigger is triggered as discussed above withreference to FIG. 5.

Example 2

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, an exampleof a virtual bonus game store will be described. Although described withreference to a fishing-type bonus game, this is not intended to belimiting as any type of virtual bonus game store may be developed forthe asynchronous group bonus game.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example virtual bonus game store 750. A player mayhave the option to use their credits to purchase bonus assets used whenplaying a bonus session game. As stated above, the bonus game playassets may be bought with credit at a virtual bonus game store 750 ormay be earned via playing the primary game. The store 750 may providedifferent types of assets that a player may use to play the bonus game.For this example, the store 750 may sell a variety of boats 728, lures730, and fishing rods 732.

A virtual bonus game store 750 may be an online store where players canbuy, sell, or trade their virtual assets. The virtual bonus game storemay be uniquely designed as a part of an asynchronous persistent groupbonus game or be a generic application that associates with multipleasynchronous persistent group bonus games. In one embodiment, thevirtual bonus game store may be implemented as a software applicationwith its associated database operating on a server connected to thenetwork and accessible by participating players.

In one embodiment, the player may buy assets to use for the bonus gamesession. However, in another embodiment, the player may sell back theassets to obtain credits to play other games of chance, cash, ornon-monetary purchases as discussed above. For example, if the player nolonger wants to participate in the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame, the player may sell back his boat, rod, lures, nets, and any otherassets he may have accumulated. In still another embodiment, the playermay trade his current assets for other assets to use in the bonussession game. For example, the player may want to trade in his currentboat for an improved and faster boat.

The player may select from a row boat 738 a, ski boat 738 b, or a racingboat 738 c. Each boat may allow the player the move around the pondfaster to provide a better chance of catching fish. The player may alsoselect to use a worm 740 a, shrimp 740 b, or a minnow 740 c as a lure.For a fishing rod, the player may elect to use the basic fishing rod 742a, the super rod 742 b, or the professional rod 742 c. The type of lureand/or fishing rod selected may determine the type and/or weight of fishcaught as well as the speed at which the player catches the fish. Byusing superior tools or having better or more experience than otherparticipating players, the player may have a better probability that awinning random number is drawn. For instance, the player may be assigneda number ranging between 1-5 when a random number is drawn between 1-100by a random number generator, compared to other less experienced playerswho may be assigned a number ranging between 1-3.

In one embodiment, for each asset, the player may elect to choose thequantity 752 desired. Additionally, the amount of credits 754 requiredto obtain each asset may be displayed.

Example 3

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, apresentation on a display of the gaming machine will be described.Although described with reference to a fishing-type bonus game, this isnot intended to be limiting as any type of game plot and presentation onany display may be developed for the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame. Additionally, the presentation display is not intended to belimiting as the presentation may be presented in any known format suchas on a different part of the display, other information may bepresented, and/or the information may be presented in different columnand row formats.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example display of a gaming machine displayingasynchronous persistent group bonus game data. The display 800 mayinclude information about the current state of the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game 802 including the teams currentlyparticipating in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game, playerscurrently playing a bonus session game in the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game, and the scores for each team and individual.

The display 800 may also present the bonus assets 804 that the playercurrently has. As illustrated, Player D may have a row boat, worm lures,and a basic fishing rod. Additionally, information about the player 806may be displayed such as the team the player is playing on, his avatar,and his score.

Example 4

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, an examplebonus game condition set display 900 will be described. Althoughdescribed with reference to a fishing-type bonus game, this is notintended to be limiting as any type of game plot and presentation on anydisplay may be developed for the asynchronous persistent group bonusgame. Additionally, any other conditions may be presented for the playerto select.

As described above, the bonus game session condition set may be anyuser-selected conditions that can affect the dynamics of the bonus gamesession. The user-selected conditions may be a specific team 902 theplayer would like to join when playing the bonus game session. Asillustrated, the player may choose to play on team Int. Garden, UoIP, orcreate his own team. The player may use any means to make a selectionsuch as using the selection indicators 914, highlighting the selection,clicking or touching the selection, or the like. The number of teammembers and current score for each team may also be displayed.

The player may also be prompted to select an avatar 920 to represent himwhile playing the bonus session game in the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game. The bonus assets 904 the player currently has may alsobe listed. The player may have the option to select the Buy 906, Sell908, Trade 910 button to buy, sell, or trade any of the bonus assets.Once selected, the player may be directed to the virtual bonus gamestore as illustrated in Example 2. Alternatively, the player may bedirected to the virtual bonus game store by clicking the Bonus Store 912button.

The various aspects, features, embodiments or implementations of theinvention described above can be used alone or in various combinations.

Embodiments of the invention can, for example, be implemented bysoftware, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.Embodiments of the invention can also be embodied as computer readablecode on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is anydata storage device that can store data which can thereafter be read bya computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium generallyinclude read-only memory and random-access memory. More specificexamples of computer readable medium are tangible and include Flashmemory, EEPROM memory, memory card, CD-ROM, DVD, hard drive, magnetictape, and optical data storage device. The computer readable medium canalso be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that thecomputer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will become obviousto those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced withoutthese specific details. The description and representation herein arethe common meanings used by those experienced or skilled in the art tomost effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components,and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the present invention.

In the foregoing description, reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment can beincluded in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances ofthe phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specificationare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor areseparate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. Further, the order of blocks in process flowcharts ordiagrams representing one or more embodiments of the invention do notinherently indicate any particular order nor imply any limitations inthe invention.

The many features and advantages of the present invention are apparentfrom the written description. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, the inventionshould not be limited to the exact construction and operation asillustrated and described. Hence, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to as falling within the scope of theinvention.

1. An asynchronous persistent group bonus game system, comprising: aplurality of gaming machines configured to accept a wager from a playerto play a game of chance, each of the plurality of gaming machinesincluding: at least one input device; at least one display; a firstprocessor; and a bonus server having a second processor, the secondprocessor configured to communicate with each of the plurality of gamingmachines via a network, wherein the first processor is at leastconfigured to: (a) determine when a bonus game session event istriggered; (b) transmit a bonus game session request to the secondprocessor; and (c) receive an end session notification from the secondprocessor; wherein the second processor is at least configured to: (a)execute the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; (b) receive abonus game session request from at least one of the plurality of gamingmachines; (c) instantiate a bonus game session in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game for the at least one gaming machine; (d)determine when an end session condition has been triggered for the bonusgame session; and (e) transmit an end session notification to the atleast one gaming machine if it is determined that the end sessioncondition has been triggered.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thebonus game session ends prior to the termination of the ongoing groupbonus game.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the bonus game session isinstantiated in the asynchronous persistent group bonus game subsequentto a second bonus game session being instantiated in the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game for a second player.
 4. The system of claim1, further comprising a local game tracking server configured tocommunicate with the bonus server and each of the plurality of gamingmachines to update and store player data and local game data.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first processor is further configured to:receive a bonus game session condition set from the player; transmit thebonus game session condition set to the second processor.
 6. The systemof claim 5, wherein the instantiating further comprises: configuring thebonus game session based on the bonus condition set.
 7. The system ofclaim 4, wherein the second processor is further configured to:determine whether the bonus game session resulted in a bonus game award;transmit a bonus game session award notification to the first processor,the bonus game session away notification includes a credit amount basedon the bonus game award; and wherein the first processor is furtherconfigured to: update the player game data with the credit amount. 8.The system of claim 1, wherein the second processor is furtherconfigured to: determine whether a bonus termination event has beentriggered for the asynchronous persistent group bonus game; determinewhether the asynchronous persistent group bonus game resulted in a finalaward; determine whether at least one player is to be awarded the finalaward; and notify the at least one player if it is determined that theat least one player is to be awarded the final award.
 9. A method forplaying an asynchronous persistent group bonus game on at least one of aplurality of gaming machines configured to accept a wager from a playerto play a game of chance, the method comprising: executing at least oneasynchronous persistent group bonus game on a bonus game server, thebonus game server configured to communicate with the plurality of gamingmachines; determining whether a bonus game session request has beenreceived from at least one of the plurality of gaming machines;instantiating a bonus game session into the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game for the at least one gaming machine; determiningwhether an end session condition has been triggered; and ending thebonus game session when it is determined that the end session conditionhas been triggered, wherein the bonus game session ends beforetermination of the at least one asynchronous persistent group bonusgame.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the instantiating occurssubsequent to instantiation of a second bonus game session into theasynchronous persistent group bonus game for a second player.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the instantiating further comprises:receiving a bonus game session condition set from the at least onegaming machine, wherein the bonus game session condition set is basedupon a player's preference when playing the bonus game session; andconfiguring the bonus game session based on the bonus game sessioncondition set.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the bonus gamecondition set includes location information, bonus game session assetinformation, and team preference information.
 13. The method of claim 9,wherein the ending further comprises: determining whether the bonus gamesession resulted in a bonus award; transmitting a bonus awardnotification to the at least one gaming machine if it is determined thatthe bonus game session resulted in a bonus award; and transmitting anend session notification to the at least one gaming machine.
 14. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the ending further comprises determiningwhether a predetermined time limit expired.
 15. The method of claim 9,wherein the ending further comprises determining whether a player taskhas been completed.
 16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:determining whether a bonus termination event has been triggered; andending the at least one asynchronous persistent group bonus game if itis determined that the bonus termination event occurred.
 17. The methodof claim 16, wherein the determining further comprises determiningwhether a predetermined period time limit expired.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the determination further comprises determiningwhether a team goal has been reached.
 19. The method of claim 16,further comprising: determining whether the asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game resulted in a final award; determining at least oneplayer to be awarded the final award; and notifying the at least oneplayer of the final award.
 20. A method for playing an asynchronouspersistent group bonus game on at least one of a plurality of gamingmachines configured to accept a wager from a player to play a game ofchance, the method comprising: initiating a primary game of chance onthe at least one gaming machine; determining whether a bonus event istriggered by the primary game of chance; transmitting a bonus gamesession request to a bonus server to play a bonus game session;displaying the bonus game session instantiated in an asynchronouspersistent group bonus game on a display if it is determined that thebonus event is triggered; and receiving an end session notification tonotify the player that the bonus game session had ended; wherein thebonus game session ends prior to the termination of the asynchronouspersistent group bonus game.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein thedisplaying further comprises displaying a plurality of bonus gamesessions instantiated in the asynchronous persistent group bonus gamefor a plurality of players.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein theasynchronous persistent group bonus game is displayed on a centraldisplay.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein asynchronous persistentgroup bonus game is displayed on a display of the at least one gamingmachine.
 24. The method of claim 20, wherein the receiving furthercomprises: receiving a bonus award notification if the bonus gamesession resulted in a bonus award; and awarding the player bonus creditsaccording to the bonus award.
 25. The method of claim 20, wherein thetransmitting further comprises: creating a bonus game session conditionset according to player preferences; and transmitting the bonus gamecondition set to a bonus game server to configure the bonus game sessionaccording to the bonus game condition set.